| 
Barclays Bank has decided to unilaterally close the bank accounts belonging to one of their customers, the Core Issues Trust, following pressure from LGBT activists who dislike their ministry.
It is not the role of a commercial organization to police the beliefs of one of its customers. This is an assault on religious freedom.
Sign the petition demanding that Barclays immediately reinstates these bank accounts. SIGN THE PETITION |
|
Dear John,
A petition is taking off, and I thought you would be interested in its success. As the CitizenGO Campaigns Director United Kingdom, I have been standing up for Core Issues Trust. They are a Christian organization, who has been informed by their bank that their accounts will be closed... because of their beliefs. It won’t surprise you to learn that the bank concerned - Barclays is currently listed at number 30 on a list of Top 100 employers put out by the UK LGBT group Stonewall. Nevertheless, it is shocking that they should display such an ugly prejudice and seek to discriminate against a minority religious organization. Such discrimination is not only unjust, but it is also, arguably, illegal. One might think that a financial institution that is openly committed to diversity and inclusion would know better!
Sign here today to demand that Barclays Bank immediately rescinds their closure notice and reinstates the bank accounts of the Core Issues Trust.
Normally, when a bank decides to foreclose on a customer, it is because they have somehow breached the terms and conditions of their contract, they owe too much money, or have been involved in some kind of illegal activity.
The Core Issues Trust has done none of these things but has been targeted by LGBT activists because they offer one-to-one counseling and support services for those who experience unwanted same-sex attraction or gender confusion.
Activists have therefore smeared them as providing ‘conversion therapy’, a term which is often weaponized against any Christian organization that wishes to help, accompany and support those who want to live according to traditional Christian values. What activists cannot stand is that organizations such as the Core Issues Trust refuse to validate their own personal choices and lifestyle and help others to explore how to live differently and according to Gospel values. The CEO of the Core Issues Trust has been explicitly clear that there is no compulsion or coercion, physical or emotional abuse involved in their ministry, and has condemned abhorrent practices such as electroshock therapy and corrective rape. They simply offer one-to-one counseling, but what particularly bugs the LGBT lobby is that they are helping people who wish to see if they can move away from their attractions.
Does Barclays bank think that the principles of personal choice do not apply to Christians? Do they think that the modern mantra of ‘living your best life’ means living by their values instead of your own?
This is an assault on basic religious freedom and personal conscience.
It is not the role of a commercial organisation to be a moral arbiter. Join our campaign telling the CEOs of Barclays Bank both globally and in the UK, to stop discriminating against Christian organisations.
While Barclays hasn’t officially given a reason for their decision to close the bank accounts of the Core Issues Trust, their letter to the organisation came just two weeks after an influential LGBT activist tweeted Barclays Bank, demanding that they withdraw their services and made false claims about the Core Issues Trust.
By their kowtowing to these activists, Barclays has validated and given succour to a campaign of harassment currently being waged against this Christian organisation. In addition to having had their bank accounts withdrawn, the Core Issues Trust has also had their Paypal facility removed, affecting supporters’ ability to make donations and Mailchimp has removed their services, meaning they cannot contact subscribers.
Thanks to these activists, this Christian ministry has faced a campaign of on and offline harassment, using identical tactics to the one waged against me by transgender-rights activists last year and familiar to anyone who has ever dared to disagree with LGBT ideology in the public square. The CEO of the Core Issues Trust has received text messages containing death threats, expressing a hope that his wife and family are raped and killed, and has been signed up to pornographic LGBT websites and accounts. They’ve also received nuisance phone calls and had their emails spammed so that they are blacklisted and social media platforms have removed their ability to block trolls and have removed content and posts, even though they were previously allowed to stand for the past two years.
This might not be the fault of Barclays Bank but no doubt the people responsible for these crimes will see their actions as a validation of their criminal conduct.
Sign today. Send a message to the bank telling them to reject the irrational demands of social media mobs and not to remove the religious rights and freedoms of their customers. Thank you, Caroline Farrow and the entire CitizenGO Team PS. It’s strange, isn’t it? These activists appear to believe that it’s perfectly possible and acceptable to change your gender and your body if it doesn’t fit with your feelings, but that changing your feelings or making different lifestyle choices is harmful!
|